HERMESS provides innovative solutions to environmental issues in the maritime, energy, and agro sectors and specialises in developing environmental information services and decision support systems. Hermess is involved in various R&D projects using the newest satellite data and data assimilation techniques in atmospheric & ocean modeling. An overview of recent R&D projects is given below.
Coastal areas are generally strongly influenced by tides. These tidal heights and currents can be significant: speeds of several meters per second are easily reached. Currents directly affect ship speeds, so naval safety and shipping efficiency benefit from a good knowledge of the local tidal conditions.
We are working on an R&D project to improve wind hindcast and forecast by assimilating Earth Observation (EO) data in its weather forecast model. EO data are a valuable source to obtain upwind wind data information in offshore areas and provide sufficient detail over complex land terrain. We are also investigating using neural networks to improve model output using in-situ measurements.
HERMESS has developed a method to assess surface currents using satellite AIS data. The AIS data from many ships are analyzed with robust statistical methods to obtain reliable information about the currents. A proof-of-concept study to determine the potential of these techniques was carried out in the Straight of Gibraltar.
ETA Monitoring Service (EMS) can provide a valuable tracking service—an valuable tool for keeping track of a vessel’s location and monitoring its Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA). The vessel’s ETA is continuously updated throughout the voyage as new weather and position data is received so you can quickly see if the ship is falling behind schedule or encountering bad weather.Therefore, the need for accurate forecasts of how much power will be fed into the grid at any given moment is becoming increasingly important. Good weather forecasts provide the basis of reliable power forecasts
